Sard Verbinnen & Co. is fronting the bid by Best Buy founder Richard Schulze to take the electronics retailer private in a deal worth $8.8B.

The 71-year-old Schulze, who owns a more than 20 percent Best Buy stake, relinquished the chairman post in June after a probe ruled that he failed to act decisively on allegations over then-CEO Brian Dunnís relationship with a female staffer.